3 things to know about LA Clippers new GM, Michael Winger

The Los Angeles Clippers reached an agreement with Michael Winger last week to become the team’s newest general manager, according to report from the Los Angeles Times.

In what’s the team third new hire into the front office this offseason, Winger replaces Dave Wohl, who is expected to remain a part of the Clippers’ leadership team as special adviser.

The Clippers are in the process of restructuring their front office, with all these new additions reporting up to Lawrence Frank, executive vice president of basketball operations.

This week, the team has hired Winger, Mark Hughes and Trent Redden, both as assistant general managers.

Here are three things to know about Winger:

Background

Winger had been an assistant general manager and team counsel for the Oklahoma City Thunder since 2010. Prior to that, the 37-year-old NBA executive worked for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Winger and Redden worked together for the Cavs, under former executive David Griffin.

Potential Benefits

Winder comes from an organization who made it a point to not have internal discussions and/or conflict leak out into the media. That sort of an environment let OKC pull off a deal for Paul George fairly quietly.

Winger should be able to sprinkle some of that into an organization that’s been on the other side of the spectrum, at least in terms of separation of team-and-media.

Common Practice

Erik Horne of The Oklahoman discussed this week how it’s not a new idea for other teams to hire Thunder assistant general managers as their new GMs. The Portland Trail Blazers hired Rich Cho in 2010 — now the Charlotte Hornets general manager — and the Orlando Magic did the same with Rob Hennigan in 2012.

Let’s see if Winger can establish the same culture of consistency in LA that he was able to be groom in OKC.

Rohit Ghosh

LA Clippers beat writer

Rohit is an L.A.-based sports journalist who contributes to SB Nation's Silver Screen and Roll, AccuScore, and the Taxi Squad Show based out of Utah. He also runs his own sports blog, Metta Chronicles. Follow him on Twitter @RohitGhosh where he discusses AccuScore projection data, a variety of sports-related topics, and even some Jazz music.